U.S. patent application number 16/121473 was filed with the patent office on 2020-03-05 for maintaining client version affinity during a server cluster upgrade.
This patent application is currently assigned to Salesforce. com.Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Salesforce. com.Inc.. Invention is credited to Olga PESCHANSKY, Paul SYDELL.
Application Number | 20200073650 16/121473 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 69639878 |
Filed Date | 2020-03-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20200073650 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
PESCHANSKY; Olga ; et
al. |
March 5, 2020 |
MAINTAINING CLIENT VERSION AFFINITY DURING A SERVER CLUSTER
UPGRADE
Abstract
Maintaining client version affinity during a rolling server
cluster upgrade includes a server in the server cluster receiving a
request from a client and checking the request for a version cookie
indicating a software version that the client is running.
Responsive to a determination that the server is running the same
software version as the client, the server serves the request.
Responsive to a determination that the client is running a software
version matching a previous software version of the server, the
server initiates a software upgrade on the client instead of
servicing the request. Responsive to a determination that the
server is not running the same software version as the client, the
server forwards the request to one of the other servers in the
server cluster that is running the same software version as the
client.
Inventors: |
PESCHANSKY; Olga; (San
Francisco, CA) ; SYDELL; Paul; (San Francisco,
CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Salesforce. com.Inc. |
San Francisco |
CA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Salesforce. com.Inc.
San Francisco
CA
|
Family ID: |
69639878 |
Appl. No.: |
16/121473 |
Filed: |
September 4, 2018 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 69/02 20130101;
H04L 67/32 20130101; H04L 67/2814 20130101; H04L 67/16 20130101;
H04L 67/10 20130101; H04L 67/327 20130101; H04L 67/02 20130101;
G06F 8/71 20130101; H04L 67/34 20130101; G06F 8/65 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 8/65 20060101
G06F008/65; H04L 29/08 20060101 H04L029/08 |
Claims
1. A computer-implemented method for maintaining client version
affinity during a server cluster upgrade, the method comprising:
receiving, by a server in the server cluster, a request from a
client and checking the request for a version cookie indicating a
client software version currently running on the client; responsive
to a determination that the server is running a server software
version matching the client software version, serving the request;
responsive to a determination that the server software version does
not match the client software version, forwarding the request to
one of the other servers in the server cluster that is running the
server software version that matches the client software version;
responsive to determining that the client software version does not
match the previous server software version, querying a repository
to find an alive server running the server software version
matching the client software version to forward the request to; and
responsive to a determination that the client software version
matches a previous server software version run by the server,
initiating a software upgrade on the client instead of servicing
the request.
2. (canceled)
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the
forwarding the request to one of the other servers further
comprises: receiving a response from the one of the other servers
and returning the response to the client.
4. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, further comprising:
configuring the repository to be accessible by the servers in the
server cluster and storing in the repository up-to-date information
regarding current and previous server software versions of the
server and current availability status of the servers.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, further comprising:
implementing the repository as one of a database and a table.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein initiating a
software upgrade on the client further comprises: the server
sending to the client a Client Out Of Sync Exception (COOSE)
response including a new client software version, wherein only one
COOSE response is sent to the client during the server cluster
upgrade.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the
determination that the server is running the server software
version matching the client software version also includes
determining that the request does not contain the version cookie
because the client is new.
8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:
prior to the server receiving the request from the client, setting
the version cookie on the client by the server.
9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:
responsive to a determination that new server software version has
a severe problem, performing a rollback such that upgraded servers
in the server cluster are returned to the previous server software
version.
10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing program
instructions for maintaining client version affinity during a
server cluster upgrade, the program instructions for: receiving, by
a server in the server cluster, a request from a client and
checking the request for a version cookie indicating a client
software version currently running on the client; responsive to a
determination that the server is running a server software version
matching the client software version, serving the request;
responsive to a determination that the server software version does
not match the client software version, forwarding the request to
one of the other servers in the server cluster that is running the
server software version that matches the client software version;
responsive to determining that the client software version does not
match the previous server software version, querying a repository
to find an alive server running the server software version
matching the client software version to forward the request to; and
responsive to a determination that the client software version
matches a previous server software version run by the server,
initiating a software upgrade on the client instead of servicing
the request.
11. (canceled)
12. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the
forwarding the request to one of the other servers further
comprises instructions for: receiving a response from the one of
the other servers and returning the response to the client.
13. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, further comprising:
configuring the repository to be accessible by the servers in the
server cluster and storing in the repository up-to-date information
regarding current and previous server software versions of the
server and current availability status of the servers.
14. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, further comprising:
implementing the repository as one of a database and a table.
15. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein initiating a
software upgrade on the client further comprises instructions for:
the server sending to the client a Client Out Of Sync Exception
(COOSE) response including a new client software version, wherein
only one COOSE response is sent to the client during the server
cluster upgrade.
16. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the
determination that the server is running the server software
version matching the client software version also includes
determining that the request does not contain the version cookie
because the client is new.
17. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, further comprising:
prior to the server receiving the request from the client, setting
the version cookie on the client by the server.
18. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, further comprising:
responsive to a determination that new server software version has
a severe problem, performing a rollback such that upgraded servers
in the server cluster are returned to the previous server software
version.
19. A system, comprising: a processing system; and a memory device
coupled to the processing system and including instructions stored
thereon that, in response to execution by the processing system,
are operable to: receive, by a server in the server cluster, a
request from a client and checking the request for a version cookie
indicating a software version that the client is running;
responsive to a determination that the server is running a same
software version as the client, serve the request; responsive to a
determination that the server is not running a same software
version as the client, forward the request to one of the other
servers in the server cluster that is running the same software
version as the client; responsive to a determination that the
client software version does not match the previous server software
version, querying a repository to find an alive server running the
server software version matching the client software version to
forward the request to; and responsive to a determination that the
client is running a software version matching a previous software
version of the server, initiate a software upgrade on the client
instead of servicing the request.
20. (canceled)
21. The system of claim 9, wherein when a response is received from
the one of the other servers, the response is returned to the
client.
22. The system of claim 9, the repository is configured to be
accessible by the servers in the server cluster and stores
up-to-date information regarding current and previous server
software versions of the server and current availability status of
the servers.
23. The system of claim 2019, wherein the repository is implemented
as one of a database and a table.
24. The system of claim 19, wherein initiating a software upgrade
on the client comprises the server sending to the client a Client
Out Of Sync Exception (COOSE) response including a new client
software version, wherein only one COOSE response is sent to the
client during the server cluster upgrade.
25. A database system, comprising: a plurality of servers in a
server cluster, the plurality of servers have one or more
processors executing server software, wherein a rolling upgrade
process is periodically used to upgrade groups of one or more of
the plurality of servers at a time from an old server software
version to a new server software version; a version cookie set on
respective user computers, the respective user computers executing
a client software version, wherein the version cookie indicates the
client software version currently being executed, wherein the
version cookie is consumed by a first one of the plurality of
servers when received in requests sent from the respective user
computers; a repository assessable by the plurality of servers in
the server cluster, the repository containing up-to-date
information about a current server software version, a previous
server software version, and a current availability status of the
plurality of servers; and a server upgrade decision component
executed by the one or more processors of the plurality of servers,
wherein on the first one of the plurality of servers, the server
upgrade decision component configures the one or more processors
to: analyze a first one of the requests received from a first user
computer; use the version cookie in to determine that the server
software version on the first one of the plurality of servers does
not match the client software version run by the first user
computer; forward the request to a second server in the server
cluster that runs a server software version that matches the client
software version; and when a response from the second server is
received by the first server, return the response to the first user
computer.
Description
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
[0001] A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains
material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright
owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of
the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the
United States Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records,
but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] One or more implementations relate generally to maintaining
client version affinity during a server cluster upgrade.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Version management refers to formal processes for making
information technology (IT) changes, such as installations,
upgrades, patching and migrations of a server cluster, in
conjunction with corresponding updates to dependent thick clients
(i.e., a client that incorporates proprietary software to
communicate with an application executed by a server), while
reducing negative impacts to service levels. Two examples of
configuration management processes are sticky sessions and
Blue-Green deployment.
[0004] Sticky sessions are used with load balancing during an
upgrade of the server cluster to achieve server affinity where a
router or load balancer with sticky sessions support assigns a
single server to a particular client/user based on their HTTP
session or IP address. While this solution eliminates constant
client re-download and hanging requests, it has drawbacks. Sticky
sessions tie a client to a specific server which leads to uneven
load distribution in the cluster, thus defeating the purpose of any
load balancer to equally distribute client load. Another drawback
is defining the rules for sticky sessions--the rules must enumerate
all possible uniform resource identifiers (URIs) that need to be
made sticky, which is a maintenance problem as URIs change and the
new ones are added in the course of application development.
[0005] Blue-Green deployment is a change management technique for
releasing software code that reduces downtime and risk by running
two identical server production environments called Blue and Green.
At any time, only one of the environments is live, with the live
environment serving all production traffic, while new code is
released in the inactive environment. Blue-green deployments need
two identical sets of hardware, and that hardware carries added
costs and overhead without actually adding capacity or improving
utilization.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] The included drawings are for illustrative purposes and
serve to provide examples of possible structures and operations for
the disclosed inventive systems, apparatus, methods and
computer-readable storage media. These drawings in no way limit any
changes in form and detail that may be made by one skilled in the
art without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosed
implementations.
[0007] FIG. 1A shows a block diagram of an example environment in
which an on-demand database service can be used according to some
implementations.
[0008] FIG. 1B shows a block diagram of example implementations of
elements of FIG. 1A and example interconnections between these
elements according to some implementations.
[0009] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example system
implementation for maintaining client version affinity during a
server cluster upgrade according to one embodiment.
[0010] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a process by the
system for maintaining client version affinity during a server
cluster upgrade in accordance with one embodiment.
[0011] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example schema for the
server version and status repository.
[0012] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating further detail for the
process of maintaining client version affinity during a server
cluster upgrade in accordance with one embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0013] Examples of systems, apparatus, computer-readable storage
media, and methods according to the disclosed implementations are
described in this section. These examples are being provided solely
to add context and aid in the understanding of the disclosed
implementations. It will thus be apparent to one skilled in the art
that the disclosed implementations may be practiced without some or
all of the specific details provided. In other instances, certain
process or method operations, also referred to herein as "blocks,"
have not been described in detail in order to avoid unnecessarily
obscuring the disclosed implementations. Other implementations and
applications also are possible, and as such, the following examples
should not be taken as definitive or limiting either in scope or
setting.
[0014] In the following detailed description, references are made
to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the description
and in which are shown, by way of illustration, specific
implementations. Although these disclosed implementations are
described in sufficient detail to enable one skilled in the art to
practice the implementations, it is to be understood that these
examples are not limiting, such that other implementations may be
used and changes may be made to the disclosed implementations
without departing from their spirit and scope. For example, the
blocks of the methods shown and described herein are not
necessarily performed in the order indicated in some other
implementations. Additionally, in some other implementations, the
disclosed methods may include more or fewer blocks than are
described. As another example, some blocks described herein as
separate blocks may be combined in some other implementations.
Conversely, what may be described herein as a single block may be
implemented in multiple blocks in some other implementations.
Additionally, the conjunction "or" is intended herein in the
inclusive sense where appropriate unless otherwise indicated; that
is, the phrase "A, B or C" is intended to include the possibilities
of "A," "B," "C," "A and B," "B and C," "A and C" and "A, B and
C."
[0015] Some implementations described and referenced herein are
directed to systems, apparatus, computer-implemented methods and
computer-readable storage media for identifying articles helpful in
resolving user queries/requests.
[0016] A database system might display a case associated with a
customer support query. The database system may initiate a search
for other cases related to the new case. The database system may
extract relevant terms from the title and/or description provided
in the new case using a term weighting algorithm, such as more like
this (MLT). The relevant terms are then used in a search query for
identifying the related cases.
[0017] The database system identifies articles linked to the
related cases, ranks the articles, and causes the articles to be
displayed on a remote user system in an order based on the ranking.
The database system may rank the articles based on a number of
related cases linked to the articles. The database system also may
rank the article based on other parameters, such as relevancy
scores for the related cases, labels assigned to the cases, last
modified dates of the related cases, etc.
[0018] The database system may identify more relevant articles by
first finding related cases that use a similar vocabulary to
describe similar customer problems. The database system then
identifies the articles that were previously determined to help
resolve the prior problems. Thus, the database system may bridge
the gap between vocabularies used by customers to describe problems
and vocabularies used in articles to describe solutions to those
problems.
[0019] In some implementations, the users described herein are
users (or "members") of an interactive online "enterprise social
network," also referred to herein as an "enterprise social
networking system," an "enterprise collaborative network," or more
simply as an "enterprise network," Such online enterprise networks
are increasingly becoming a common way to facilitate communication
among people, any of whom can be recognized as enterprise users.
One example of an online enterprise network is Lightning.RTM.,
provided by salesforce.com, inc. of San Francisco, Calif. One
example of an online enterprise social network is Chatter.RTM.,
provided by salesforce.com. Salesforce.com, inc. is a provider of
enterprise social networking services, customer relationship
management (CRM) services and other database management services,
any of which can be accessed and used in conjunction with the
techniques disclosed herein in some implementations. These various
services can be provided in a cloud computing environment as
described herein, for example, in the context of a multi-tenant
database system. Some of the described techniques or processes can
be implemented without having to install software locally, that is,
on computing devices of users interacting with services available
through the cloud. While the disclosed implementations may be
described with reference to Lightning.RTM. and/or Chatter.RTM. and
more generally to enterprise social networking, those of ordinary
skill in the art should understand that the disclosed techniques
are neither limited to Lightning.RTM. or Chatter.RTM. nor to any
other services and systems provided by salesforce.com, inc. and can
be implemented in the context of various other database systems
such as cloud-based systems that are not part of a multi-tenant
database system or which do not provide enterprise social
networking services.
I. Example System Overview
[0020] FIG. 1A shows a block diagram of an example of an
environment 10 in which an on-demand database service can be used
in accordance with some implementations. The environment 10
includes user systems 12, a network 14, a database system 16 (also
referred to herein as a "cloud-based system"), a processor system
17, an application platform 18, a network interface 20, tenant
database 22 for storing tenant data 23, system database 24 for
storing system data 25, program code 26 for implementing various
functions of the system 16, and process space 28 for executing
database system processes and tenant-specific processes, such as
running applications as part of an application hosting service. In
some other implementations, environment 10 may not have all of
these components or systems, or may have other components or
systems instead of, or in addition to, those listed above.
[0021] In some implementations, the environment 10 is an
environment in which an on-demand database service exists. An
on-demand database service, such as that which can be implemented
using the system 16, is a service that is made available to users
outside of the enterprise(s) that own, maintain or provide access
to the system 16. As described above, such users generally do not
need to be concerned with building or maintaining the system 16.
Instead, resources provided by the system 16 may be available for
such users' use when the users need services provided by the system
16; that is, on the demand of the users. Some on-demand database
services can store information from one or more tenants into tables
of a common database image to form a multi-tenant database system
(MTS). The term "multi-tenant database system" can refer to those
systems in which various elements of hardware and software of a
database system may be shared by one or more customers or tenants.
For example, a given application server may simultaneously process
requests for a great number of customers, and a given database
table may store rows of data such as feed items for a potentially
much greater number of customers. A database image can include one
or more database objects. A relational database management system
(RDBMS) or the equivalent can execute storage and retrieval of
information against the database object(s).
[0022] Application platform 18 can be a framework that allows the
applications of system 16 to execute, such as the hardware or
software infrastructure of the system 16. In some implementations,
the application platform 18 enables the creation, management and
execution of one or more applications developed by the provider of
the on-demand database service, users accessing the on-demand
database service via user systems 12, or third party application
developers accessing the on-demand database service via user
systems 12.
[0023] In some implementations, the system 16 implements a
web-based customer relationship management (CRM) system. For
example, in some such implementations, the system 16 includes
application servers configured to implement and execute CRM
software applications as well as provide related data, code, forms,
renderable web pages and documents and other information to and
from user systems 12 and to store to, and retrieve from, a database
system related data, objects, and Web page content. In some MTS
implementations, data for multiple tenants may be stored in the
same physical database object in tenant database 22. In some such
implementations, tenant data is arranged in the storage medium(s)
of tenant database 22 so that data of one tenant is kept logically
separate from that of other tenants so that one tenant does not
have access to another tenant's data, unless such data is expressly
shared. The system 16 also implements applications other than, or
in addition to, a CRM application. For example, the system 16 can
provide tenant access to multiple hosted (standard and custom)
applications, including a CRM application. User (or third party
developer) applications, which may or may not include CRM, may be
supported by the application platform 18. The application platform
18 manages the creation and storage of the applications into one or
more database objects and the execution of the applications in one
or more virtual machines in the process space of the system 16.
[0024] According to some implementations, each system 16 is
configured to provide web pages, forms, applications, data and
media content to user (client) systems 12 to support the access by
user systems 12 as tenants of system 16. As such, system 16
provides security mechanisms to keep each tenant's data separate
unless the data is shared. If more than one MTS is used, they may
be located in close proximity to one another (for example, in a
server farm located in a single building or campus), or they may be
distributed at locations remote from one another (for example, one
or more servers located in city A and one or more servers located
in city B). As used herein, each MTS could include one or more
logically or physically connected servers distributed locally or
across one or more geographic locations. Additionally, the term
"server" is meant to refer to a computing device or system,
including processing hardware and process space(s), an associated
storage medium such as a memory device or database, and, in some
instances, a database application (for example, OODBMS or RDBMS) as
is well known in the art. It should also be understood that "server
system" and "server" are often used interchangeably herein.
Similarly, the database objects described herein can be implemented
as part of a single database, a distributed database, a collection
of distributed databases, a database with redundant online or
offline backups or other redundancies, etc., and can include a
distributed database or storage network and associated processing
intelligence.
[0025] The network 14 can be or include any network or combination
of networks of systems or devices that communicate with one
another. For example, the network 14 can be or include any one or
any combination of a LAN (local area network), WAN (wide area
network), telephone network, wireless network, cellular network,
point-to-point network, star network, token ring network, hub
network, or other appropriate configuration. The network 14 can
include a TCP/IP (Transfer Control Protocol and Internet Protocol)
network, such as the global internetwork of networks often referred
to as the "Internet" (with a capital "I"). The Internet will be
used in many of the examples herein. However, it should be
understood that the networks that the disclosed implementations can
use are not so limited, although TCP/IP is a frequently implemented
protocol.
[0026] The user systems 12 can communicate with system 16 using
TCP/IP and, at a higher network level, other common Internet
protocols to communicate, such as HTTP, FTP, AFS, WAP, etc. In an
example where HTTP is used, each user system 12 can include an HTTP
client commonly referred to as a "web browser" or simply a
"browser" for sending and receiving HTTP signals to and from an
HTTP server of the system 16. Such an HTTP server can be
implemented as the sole network interface 20 between the system 16
and the network 14, but other techniques can be used in addition to
or instead of these techniques. In some implementations, the
network interface 20 between the system 16 and the network 14
includes load sharing functionality, such as round-robin HTTP
request distributors to balance loads and distribute incoming HTTP
requests evenly over a number of servers. In MTS implementations,
each of the servers can have access to the MTS data; however, other
alternative configurations may be used instead.
[0027] The user systems 12 can be implemented as any computing
device(s) or other data processing apparatus or systems usable by
users to access the database system 16. For example, any of user
systems 12 can be a desktop computer, a work station, a laptop
computer, a tablet computer, a handheld computing device, a mobile
cellular phone (for example, a "smartphone"), or any other
Wi-Fi-enabled device, wireless access protocol (WAP)-enabled
device, or other computing device capable of interfacing directly
or indirectly to the Internet or other network. The terms "user
system" and "computing device" are used interchangeably herein with
one another and with the term "computer." As described above, each
user system 12 typically executes an HTTP client, for example, a
web browsing (or simply "browsing") program, such as a web browser
based on the WebKit platform, Microsoft's Internet Explorer
browser, Apple's Safari, Google's Chrome, Opera's browser, or
Mozilla's Firefox browser, or the like, allowing a user (for
example, a subscriber of on-demand services provided by the system
16) of the user system 12 to access, process and view information,
pages and applications available to it from the system 16 over the
network 14.
[0028] Each user system 12 also typically includes one or more user
input devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, a trackball, a touch
pad, a touch screen, a pen or stylus or the like, for interacting
with a graphical user interface (GUI) provided by the browser on a
display (for example, a monitor screen, liquid crystal display
(LCD), light-emitting diode (LED) display, among other
possibilities) of the user system 12 in conjunction with pages,
forms, applications and other information provided by the system 16
or other systems or servers. For example, the user interface device
can be used to access data and applications hosted by system 16,
and to perform searches on stored data, and otherwise allow a user
to interact with various GUI pages that may be presented to a user.
As discussed above, implementations are suitable for use with the
Internet, although other networks can be used instead of or in
addition to the Internet, such as an intranet, an extranet, a
virtual private network (VPN), a non-TCP/IP based network, any LAN
or WAN or the like.
[0029] The users of user systems 12 may differ in their respective
capacities, and the capacity of a particular user system 12 can be
entirely determined by permissions (permission levels) for the
current user of such user system. For example, where a salesperson
is using a particular user system 12 to interact with the system
16, that user system can have the capacities allotted to the
salesperson. However, while an administrator is using that user
system 12 to interact with the system 16, that user system can have
the capacities allotted to that administrator. Where a hierarchical
role model is used, users at one permission level can have access
to applications, data, and database information accessible by a
lower permission level user, but may not have access to certain
applications, database information, and data accessible by a user
at a higher permission level. Thus, different users generally will
have different capabilities with regard to accessing and modifying
application and database information, depending on the users'
respective security or permission levels (also referred to as
"authorizations").
[0030] According to some implementations, each user system 12 and
some or all of its components are operator-configurable using
applications, such as a browser, including computer code executed
using a central processing unit (CPU) such as an Intel Pentium.RTM.
processor or the like. Similarly, the system 16 (and additional
instances of an MTS, where more than one is present) and all of its
components can be operator-configurable using application(s)
including computer code to run using the processor system 17, which
may be implemented to include a CPU, which may include an Intel
Pentium.RTM. processor or the like, or multiple CPUs.
[0031] The system 16 includes tangible computer-readable media
having non-transitory instructions stored thereon/in that are
executable by or used to program a server or other computing system
(or collection of such servers or computing systems) to perform
some of the implementation of processes described herein. For
example, computer program code 26 can implement instructions for
operating and configuring the system 16 to intercommunicate and to
process web pages, applications and other data and media content as
described herein. In some implementations, the computer code 26 can
be downloadable and stored on a hard disk, but the entire program
code, or portions thereof, also can be stored in any other volatile
or non-volatile memory medium or device as is well known, such as a
ROM or RAM, or provided on any media capable of storing program
code, such as any type of rotating media including floppy disks,
optical discs, digital versatile disks (DVD), compact disks (CD),
microdrives, and magneto-optical disks, and magnetic or optical
cards, nanosystems (including molecular memory ICs), or any other
type of computer-readable medium or device suitable for storing
instructions or data. Additionally, the entire program code, or
portions thereof, may be transmitted and downloaded from a software
source over a transmission medium, for example, over the Internet,
or from another server, as is well known, or transmitted over any
other existing network connection as is well known (for example,
extranet, VPN, LAN, etc.) using any communication medium and
protocols (for example, TCP/IP, HTTP, HTTPS, Ethernet, etc.) as are
well known. It will also be appreciated that computer code for the
disclosed implementations can be realized in any programming
language that can be executed on a server or other computing system
such as, for example, C, C++, HTML, any other markup language,
Java.TM., JavaScript, ActiveX, any other scripting language, such
as VBScript, and many other programming languages as are well known
may be used. (Java.TM. is a trademark of Sun Microsystems,
Inc.).
[0032] FIG. 1B shows a block diagram of example implementations of
elements of FIG. 1A and example interconnections between these
elements according to some implementations. That is, FIG. 1B also
illustrates environment 10, but FIG. 1B, various elements of the
system 16 and various interconnections between such elements are
shown with more specificity according to some more specific
implementations. Additionally, in FIG. 1B, the user system 12
includes a processor system 12A, a memory system 12B, an input
system 12C, and an output system 12D. The processor system 12A can
include any suitable combination of one or more processors. The
memory system 12B can include any suitable combination of one or
more memory devices. The input system 12C can include any suitable
combination of input devices, such as one or more touchscreen
interfaces, keyboards, mice, trackballs, scanners, cameras, or
interfaces to networks. The output system 12D can include any
suitable combination of output devices, such as one or more display
devices, printers, or interfaces to networks.
[0033] In FIG. 1B, the network interface 20 is implemented as a set
of HTTP application servers 100.sub.1-100.sub.N. Each application
server 100, also referred to herein as an "app server", is
configured to communicate with tenant database 22 and the tenant
data 23 therein, as well as system database 24 and the system data
25 therein, to serve requests received from the user systems 12.
The tenant data 23 can be divided into individual tenant storage
spaces 112, which can be physically or logically arranged or
divided. Within each tenant storage space 112, user storage 114 and
application metadata 116 can similarly be allocated for each user.
For example, a copy of a user's most recently used (MRU) items can
be stored to user storage 114. Similarly, a copy of MRU items for
an entire organization that is a tenant can be stored to tenant
storage space 112.
[0034] The process space 28 includes system process space 102,
individual tenant process spaces 104 and a tenant management
process space 110. The application platform 18 includes an
application setup mechanism 38 that supports application
developers' creation and management of applications. Such
applications and others can be saved as metadata into tenant
database 22 by save routines 36 for execution by subscribers as one
or more tenant process spaces 104 managed by tenant management
process 110, for example. Invocations to such applications can be
coded using PL/SOQL 34, which provides a programming language style
interface extension to API 32. A detailed description of some
PL/SOQL language implementations is discussed in commonly assigned
U.S. Pat. No. 7,730,478, titled METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ALLOWING
ACCESS TO DEVELOPED APPLICATIONS VIA A MULTI-TENANT ON-DEMAND
DATABASE SERVICE, by Craig Weissman, issued on Jun. 1, 2010, and
hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety and for all
purposes. Invocations to applications can be detected by one or
more system processes, which manage retrieving application metadata
116 for the subscriber making the invocation and executing the
metadata as an application in a virtual machine.
[0035] The system 16 of FIG. 1B also includes a user interface (UI)
30 and an application programming interface (API) 32 to system 16
resident processes to users or developers at user systems 12. In
some other implementations, the environment 10 may not have the
same elements as those listed above or may have other elements
instead of, or in addition to, those listed above.
[0036] Each application server 100 can be communicably coupled with
tenant database 22 and system database 24, for example, having
access to tenant data 23 and system data 25, respectively, via a
different network connection. For example, one application server
100.sub.1 can be coupled via the network 14 (for example, the
Internet), another application server 100.sub.N-1 can be coupled
via a direct network link, and another application server 100.sub.N
can be coupled by yet a different network connection. Transfer
Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) are examples of
typical protocols that can be used for communicating between
application servers 100 and the system 16. However, it will be
apparent to one skilled in the art that other transport protocols
can be used to optimize the system 16 depending on the network
interconnections used.
[0037] In some implementations, each application server 100 is
configured to handle requests for any user associated with any
organization that is a tenant of the system 16. Because it can be
desirable to be able to add and remove application servers 100 from
the server pool at any time and for various reasons, in some
implementations there is no server affinity for a user or
organization to a specific application server 100. In some such
implementations, an interface system implementing a load balancing
function (for example, an F5 Big-IP load balancer) is communicably
coupled between the application servers 100 and the user systems 12
to distribute requests to the application servers 100. In one
implementation, the load balancer uses a least-connections
algorithm to route user requests to the application servers 100.
Other examples of load balancing algorithms, such as round robin
and observed-response-time, also can be used. For example, in some
instances, three consecutive requests from the same user could hit
three different application servers 100, and three requests from
different users could hit the same application server 100. In this
manner, by way of example, system 16 can be a multi-tenant system
in which system 16 handles storage of, and access to, different
objects, data and applications across disparate users and
organizations.
[0038] In one example storage use case, one tenant can be a company
that employs a sales force where each salesperson uses system 16 to
manage aspects of their sales. A user can maintain contact data,
leads data, customer follow-up data, performance data, goals and
progress data, etc., all applicable to that user's personal sales
process (for example, in tenant database 22). In an example of a
MTS arrangement, because all of the data and the applications to
access, view, modify, report, transmit, calculate, etc., can be
maintained and accessed by a user system 12 having little more than
network access, the user can manage his or her sales efforts and
cycles from any of many different user systems. For example, when a
salesperson is visiting a customer and the customer has Internet
access in their lobby, the salesperson can obtain critical updates
regarding that customer while waiting for the customer to arrive in
the lobby.
[0039] While each user's data can be stored separately from other
users' data regardless of the employers of each user, some data can
be organization-wide data shared or accessible by several users or
all of the users for a given organization that is a tenant. Thus,
there can be some data structures managed by system 16 that are
allocated at the tenant level while other data structures can be
managed at the user level. Because an MTS can support multiple
tenants including possible competitors, the MTS can have security
protocols that keep data, applications, and application use
separate. Also, because many tenants may opt for access to an MTS
rather than maintain their own system, redundancy, up-time, and
backup are additional functions that can be implemented in the MTS.
In addition to user-specific data and tenant-specific data, the
system 16 also can maintain system level data usable by multiple
tenants or other data. Such system level data can include industry
reports, news, postings, and the like that are sharable among
tenants.
[0040] In some implementations, the user systems 12 (which also can
be client systems) communicate with the application servers 100 to
request and update system-level and tenant-level data from the
system 16. Such requests and updates can involve sending one or
more queries to tenant database 22 or system database 24. The
system 16 (for example, an application server 100 in the system 16)
can automatically generate one or more SQL statements (for example,
one or more SQL queries) designed to access the desired
information. System database 24 can generate query plans to access
the requested data from the database. The term "query plan"
generally refers to one or more operations used to access
information in a database system.
[0041] Each database can generally be viewed as a collection of
objects, such as a set of logical tables, containing data fitted
into predefined or customizable categories. A "table" is one
representation of a data object, and may be used herein to simplify
the conceptual description of objects and custom objects according
to some implementations. It should be understood that "table" and
"object" may be used interchangeably herein. Each table generally
contains one or more data categories logically arranged as columns
or fields in a viewable schema. Each row or element of a table can
contain an instance of data for each category defined by the
fields. For example, a CRM database can include a table that
describes a customer with fields for basic contact information such
as name, address, phone number, fax number, etc. Another table can
describe a purchase order, including fields for information such as
customer, product, sale price, date, etc. In some MTS
implementations, standard entity tables can be provided for use by
all tenants. For CRM database applications, such standard entities
can include tables for case, account, contact, lead, and
opportunity data objects, each containing pre-defined fields. As
used herein, the term "entity" also may be used interchangeably
with "object" and "table."
[0042] In some MTS implementations, tenants are allowed to create
and store custom objects, or may be allowed to customize standard
entities or objects, for example by creating custom fields for
standard objects, including custom index fields. Commonly assigned
U.S. Pat. No. 7,779,039, titled CUSTOM ENTITIES AND FIELDS IN A
MULTI-TENANT DATABASE SYSTEM, by Weissman et al., issued on Aug.
17, 2010, and hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety and
for all purposes, teaches systems and methods for creating custom
objects as well as customizing standard objects in a multi-tenant
database system. In some implementations, for example, all custom
entity data rows are stored in a single multi-tenant physical
table, which may contain multiple logical tables per organization.
It is transparent to customers that their multiple "tables" are in
fact stored in one large table or that their data may be stored in
the same table as the data of other customers.
II. Maintaining Client Version Affinity During a Server Cluster
Upgrade
[0043] The specific details of the specific aspects of
implementations disclosed herein may be combined in any suitable
manner without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosed
implementations. However, other implementations may be directed to
specific implementations relating to each individual aspect, or
specific combinations of these individual aspects.
[0044] Additionally, while the disclosed examples are often
described herein with reference to an implementation in which an
on-demand database service environment is implemented in a system
having an application server providing a front end for an on-demand
database service capable of supporting multiple tenants, the
present implementations are not limited to multi-tenant databases
or deployment on application servers. Implementations may be
practiced using other database architectures, i.e., ORACLE.RTM.,
DB2.RTM. by IBM and the like without departing from the scope of
the implementations claimed.
[0045] It should also be understood that some of the disclosed
implementations can be embodied in the form of various types of
hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof, including in
the form of control logic, and using such hardware or software in a
modular or integrated manner. Other ways or methods are possible
using hardware and a combination of hardware and software.
Additionally, any of the software components or functions described
in this application can be implemented as software code to be
executed by one or more processors using any suitable computer
language such as, for example, Java, C++or Perl using, for example,
existing or object-oriented techniques. The software code can be
stored as a computer- or processor-executable instructions or
commands on a physical non-transitory computer-readable medium.
Examples of suitable media include random access memory (RAM), read
only memory (ROM), magnetic media such as a hard-drive or a floppy
disk, or an optical medium such as a compact disk (CD) or DVD
(digital versatile disk), flash memory, and the like, or any
combination of such storage or transmission devices.
[0046] Computer-readable media encoded with the software/program
code may be packaged with a compatible device or provided
separately from other devices example, via Internet download). Any
such computer-readable medium may reside on or within a single
computing device or an entire computer system, and may be among
other computer-readable media within a system or network. A
computer system, or other computing device, may include a monitor,
printer, or other suitable display for providing any of the results
mentioned herein to a user.
[0047] While some implementations have been described herein, it
should be understood that they have been presented by way of
example only, and not limitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of
the present application should not be limited by any of the
implementations described herein, but should be defined only in
accordance with the following and later-submitted claims and their
equivalents.
[0048] Embodiments describe a system that defines interaction and
exchange of information between user systems and the app servers as
well as interactions between the app servers in a cloud-based
server cluster. As a result of these interactions, a rolling
upgrade of the server cluster can be performed such that any thick
client/user system sending a request to the server cluster will
execute only one software upgrade by downloading a new version of
client-side software only once. After the software upgrade, the
client is guaranteed to have its requests handled by one of the
servers executing the matching new software version without ever
having to downgrade. Such a guarantee is called "version affinity"
and is achieved without a more limiting "sticky session load
balancing" and thus does not have the drawbacks of that solution.
It is also achieved entirely within the existing server cluster
without reliance on additional servers as is the case with the
Blue-Green solution.
[0049] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example system
implementation for maintaining client version affinity during a
server cluster upgrade. As described with respect to FIG. 1B, the
environment 10 includes user systems 12 in communication through
the network 14 with app servers 100 of a server cluster (also
referred to as a instance) 200. In one example embodiment, the
server cluster 200 may include 20-50 app servers 100. Multiple
server clusters may be grouped to form super clusters and groups of
super clusters may be used to form a data center.
[0050] The user systems 12 run a client software version 202, which
sends requests 204 for information to the system 16 and receives
responses 206 in reply. User systems 12 are also referred to herein
as thick client devices, or simply as clients. As used herein a
thick client is a client that incorporates proprietary software,
i.e., client software version 202, in order to communicate with an
application that is executed by one or more of the app servers 100.
A load balancer 208 (including a router implementing a load
balancer function) is communicably coupled between the app servers
100 and the user systems 12 to distribute the requests 204 to the
app servers 100.
[0051] In one embodiment, a rolling upgrade process 216 is
periodically used to upgrade groups of one or more app servers 100
at a time in the server cluster 200 from an old server software
version 220A to a new server software version 220B to minimize or
eliminate any interruption to service. The old and new server
software versions 220A and 220B, respectively, are collectively
referred to herein as a server software version 220.
[0052] When client requests 204 are routed to the app servers 100
during a rolling upgrade process 216. both app servers 100 running
the old and new server software versions 220A and 220B are live and
taking requests. There is a problem with conventional systems in
that sonic of the requests 204 may be bounced back and forth
between servers running the two different server software versions.
This may cause a lot of issues as invalidations of client software
versions can occur based on which server software version is being
run by the servers. Thus, old and new server software versions in
the server cluster can lead to frozen loading and various other
issues. For example, many users may experience and report infinite
reload errors, while other users may experience multiple reloads
during the software release or update, resulting in slow loading
and instability of the system.
[0053] According to one embodiment, the rolling upgrade process 216
of the server cluster 200 is performed with version affinity such
that any client sending a request 204 to the server cluster 200
will execute only one software upgrade by downloading a new version
of client software 202 only once. After the software upgrade,
version affinity guarantees that the client will have future
requests 204 handled by one of the app servers 100 executing the
new server S/W version 220B matching the current client software
version 202 without being "ping-ponged" between server software
versions and never having to downgrade.
[0054] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a process by the
system 16 for maintaining client version affinity during a server
cluster upgrade in accordance with one embodiment. The process may
include receiving by an app server 100 in the server cluster 200, a
request 204 from a client and checking the request 204 for a
version cookie 210 indicating a client software (S/W) version 202
currently running on the client (block 300).
[0055] Responsive to determination that the app server 100 is
running a server software version 220 matching the client software
version 202, the request 204 is served (block 302). This is the
most common outcome, and occurs when there is no ongoing software
upgrade in the server cluster 200. This happens when a) the request
204 does not contain a version cookie 210, e.g., because the client
is new, or b) the client software version 202 indicated by the
version cookie 210 is the same as the server software version 202
run by the app server 100.
[0056] Responsive to determination that the client software version
202 matches a previous server software version 220A'' run by the
app server 100, a client software upgrade is initiated on the
client instead of servicing the request (block 304). Responsive to
determination that neither a previous nor a current server software
version 220 matches the client software version 202, the request
204 is forwarded to one of the other servers 100 (i.e., a peer
server) in the server cluster 200 that is running the server
software version 220 matching the client software version 202
(block 306). In one embodiment, the client software version
information is forwarded along with the request 204 to the peer
server.
[0057] In one embodiment, blocks 302, 304, and 306 are performed by
the app server 100 that received the request. However, in other
embodiments, blocks 302, 304 and 306 may be performed by another
server or component, such as a "software load balancer".
[0058] Referring again to FIG. 2, according to one aspect of the
present embodiments, the version affinity of the upgrade of the
server cluster 200 is accomplished through the use of a combination
of i) the version cookie 210 on the user systems 12; ii) a server
version and status repository 212 accessible by the app servers
100; and iii) a server upgrade decision component 214 that is
executed by the app servers 100 (instead of being a standalone
module), as described further below.
[0059] The version cookie 210 on the respective user systems 12
indicates the client software version 202 currently being executed.
The version cookie 210 is examined by app servers 100 when received
in a request 204 sent from a respective user system 12. In one
embodiment, the version cookie 210 is set on respective user
systems 12 by the server upgrade decision component 214 running on
the app servers 100 as part of servicing every client request by
including a cookie in a response indicating the current software
version of the server. When a new request 204 is subsequently sent
to the server cluster 200, a client browser echoes back the version
cookie 210 as any other cookie.
[0060] In one embodiment, the server upgrade decision component 214
sets the version cookie 210 to its own version name if the request
will be processed locally, and if the server upgrade decision
component 214 decides to forward the request, the version cookie
210 is set to its own version name by the server that is the
recipient of the forwarded request. In one embodiment, the version
cookie 210 does not expire (i.e., the expires date is in a distant
future), should be secure and apply to all URI paths pointing to
the application, which means that multiple version cookies 210 may
be set, each for a different set of paths. A secure cookie ensures
that it cannot be exploited for a DOS attack. The following are
example HTTP responses for setting the version cookies 210: [0061]
Header: Set-Cookie: Version=`98.10.6; Expires=Sat, 31 Dec 2022
23:59:59 GMT; Path=/myapp/; Secure [0062] Header: Set-Cookie:
Version =`98.10.7`; Expires=Sat, 31 Dec 2022 23:59:59 GMT; Path=/*;
Secure
[0063] The server version and status repository 212 is accessible
by all app servers 100 in the server cluster 200 and contains
up-to-date information regarding the current and previous server
software versions 220 of all app servers 100 as well as the
server's current availability status. In some embodiments, the
server version and status repository 212 may be implemented as a
database table (e.g., system database 24) or an in-memory table in
a cluster level cache.
[0064] In one aspect of the disclosed embodiments, the server
upgrade decision component 214 executed by the servers 100 performs
the determination processing of blocks 302, 304 and 306 of FIG. 3.
In particular, the server upgrade decision component 214 may be
configured to analyze a request 204 received from one of the user
systems 12, and use the version cookie 210 to determine that the
server software version 220 run by the app server 100 does not
match the client software version 202. The server upgrade decision
component 214 may then forward the request 204 to another app
server 100 in the server cluster 200 that runs a server software
version 220 matching the client software version 202. When a
response 206 from the other server 100 is received by the first
server 100, the server returns the response 206 to the requesting
user system 12 as part of a regular request forwarding
procedure.
[0065] This forwarding procedure is not required and does not occur
when all servers 100 in the server cluster 200 are running the same
server software version 220. It does, however, happen as soon as
the server cluster 200 starts to have two server software versions
220A and 220B running simultaneously, which is the case during the
rolling upgrade process 216. The forwarding starts and stops as
needed based only on the status of servers 100 in the server
cluster 200, as indicated in the server version and status
repository 212, and does not require any external signals or
additional servers, as would be the case with an upgrade process
such as Blue-Green deployment.
[0066] In a further aspect of the disclosed embodiments, the server
upgrade decision component 214 is also capable of handling a
rollback of a software upgrade. Referring to FIG. 2, a rollback may
be performed when it is determined that recently deployed new
server software version 220B has a severe problem such that the
upgraded servers 100 in the server cluster 200 must be returned to
the old server software version 220A. A rollback may be full or
partial. The difference between the full and partial rollback is
based on the moment when the revert of the upgrade is made. If only
some servers 100 have been upgraded to the new server software
version 220B and the rest are still running the old server software
version 220A, then the rollback is applied only to those few
upgraded servers and is called a partial rollback. If all servers
100 are already running the new server software version 220B, then
a full rollback is performed. In that case, the procedure is
indistinguishable from a normal upgrade, only during the full
rollback the "upgrade" goes in the opposite direction from the new
server software version 220B to the old server software 220A.
[0067] After a partial rollback there are two categories of user
systems 12 (clients)--those clients that have not yet upgraded
their software version 202 to the new version and those that were
already upgraded to the new version. The former category of clients
need not perform any changes because after the partial rollback all
servers 100 will be executing the old software version 220A which
matches their software version. The latter category of clients
would need to perform a downgrade to return to the old software
version 220A. The server upgrade decision component 214 does not
need to be informed about the rollback nor does it need to change
its behavior. By continuing to execute the same steps as during a
normal upgrade it naturally causes the clients in the latter
category to downgrade.
[0068] As a result of the partial rollback, some servers 100 which
have been upgraded to the new software version 220B will be
restarted and will be now running the old software version 220A. As
part of startup these servers will update their current and
previous versions in the repository (block 508), after the rollback
the current version for these servers will be the old version 220A
and the previous version will be 220B. Thus, a request 204 from an
upgraded client would match the server's previous version, and the
client would be sent a Client Out Of Sync Exception (COOSE) to
initiate a download of software version 220A (block 522). As a
result, a client in the latter category of the upgraded clients
will perform a downgrade in accordance with the cluster
rollback.
[0069] In one embodiment, the system 16 may comprise a user
interface (UI) framework for developing dynamic web apps for mobile
and desktop devices (user systems 12) in which the present
embodiments are implemented. In an example embodiment, the U1
framework may implement the client software version 202 using
JavaScript on the client side and implement the server software
version 220 using Apex on the server side.
[0070] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example schema for the
server version and status repository 212 and example values
therein. In one embodiment, the server version and status
repository 212 (hereinafter referred to as repository 212) is a
storage data structure that is accessible for read and write from
all servers 100 in the server cluster 200. For example, the
repository 212 may be implemented as a table in database of the
server cluster 200 or a map in a clustered cache.
[0071] In one embodiment, the repository 212 may include a
plurality of rows and columns where the rows store an entry for
each app server 100. In one embodiment, the columns, and therefore
each entry, of the repository 212 may include: a server ID 400, a
last update timestamp 402, a previous server software version 404,
a current server software version 404 and a server status 406.
[0072] Values for the server ID 400 may include any alphanumeric
identifier for each of the servers 100, e.g., "Server 1" to "Server
N." The last update timestamp 402 may include date and time values
of the last software update, e.g., Jul. 20, 2018: 11:05:00. Values
for the previous (old) software version 404 may include any
alphanumeric identifier of the last update, e.g., "98.10.6". Values
for the current (new) software version may include any alphanumeric
identifier of the current software version, e.g., "98.10.7." Values
for the server status 408 may include any alphanumeric description
of the server availability status. The availability status may have
any combination of possible values such as: "Available," "Alive,"
or "Online;" "Starting" or "Startup;" "Busy;" "Shutting Down;" and
"Offline." The servers 100 are capable of fulfilling requests only
in Available/Alive: status.
[0073] The servers 100 update their availability status and
timestamp of the last update in the repository 212 when their
availability status changes. The servers 100 query or inquire about
server software versions 220 and the server status of peers in the
server cluster 200 when required by the server upgrade decision
component 214.
[0074] The server upgrade decision component 214 takes advantage of
knowing both the previous and current server software version 220
for each server to implement the directional forwarding in
accordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiments. For
example, knowledge of the two different server software versions
220 shows the direction of an upgrade from a previous or old server
software version 220A to the current or new server software version
220B. The server upgrade decision component 214 uses this knowledge
to gradually steer clients/user systems 12 to the new software
version and to avoid bouncing a client between servers 100 running
different server software versions 220, which may cause multiple
client software version 202 downloads. This directional forwarding
is shown in FIG. 5.
[0075] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating further detail for the
process of maintaining client version affinity during a server
cluster upgrade in accordance with one embodiment. In one
embodiment, the process is performed by the server upgrade decision
component 214 with the exception of blocks 500 and 502. The process
may begin with the initiation of the rolling upgrade process of the
server cluster 200 (block 500). When the server starts up (block
502), the server updates its' server status 408 in the repository
212 first to "Starting up," and then to "Available" once the server
is completely started and ready to fulfill requests 204 (block
504).
[0076] The server determines if a software upgrade has been
performed by accessing the repository 212 to see if the value of
the current server software version 406 in the repository 212
differs from the server's actual server software version (block
506). If so, the server has been upgraded, and the server enters
the current server software version from the repository 212 as the
previous server software version 404, and replaces the current
server software version in the repository 212 with its actual
server software version (block 508). In one embodiment, server
startup is the only time when server software versions in the
repository entries may be updated. If the app server 100 has been
restarted without an upgrade, the versions would match and no
update would occur.
[0077] Whether or not a server software upgrade has been performed,
the process continues with the server receiving a request 204 from
a client/user system 12 along with version cookie 210 (block 510).
In one embodiment, the request 204 is forwarded to the server from
the load balancer 208.
[0078] The server then determines if the client software version
202, as indicated in the version cookie 210, matches the server
software version 220 (block 512). In one embodiment, the server may
accesses the repository 212 to determine if the client software
version 202 matches the current server software version 406 in the
repository 212. In another embodiment, the server may access its
actual server software version internally without accessing
repository 212 to make this determination.
[0079] If the client software version 202 does match the server
software version 220, the servicing of the request by the server is
initiated (block 514), and the process resumes with the server
receiving a request 204 (block 510).
[0080] When the server receives a request from a client whose
version differs from its own (block 512), the server needs to make
a decision between forcing the client to update the client software
version 202 or forwarding the request to another server having a
matching server software version 220.
[0081] The server accesses repository 212 to determine if the
client software version matches the previous server software
version (block 516), and if so, sends client a Client Out Of Sync
Exception (COOSE) response to initiate a download of a new client
software version (block 522). Only if the client software version
202 does not match the previous server software version the server
tries to find another server having a server software version 220
which matches client software version 202.
[0082] The server uses repository 212 to find out if such matching
peer servers exist and are in an Available state. In particular,
the server accesses/queries the repository 212 to determine if the
client software version 202 matches the previous server software
version 404 in the repository 212 (block 516), and if not, the
server accesses/queries the repository 212 to find a peer server
having a status of "Available" or "Alive" and a current server
software version 406 matching the client software version 202
(block 518).
[0083] As an example, the server may execute a query to the
repository 212 that reads "find Available servers that are running
server software version V", where V is the value of the client
software version 202 from the client's version cookie 210. The
repository 212 then returns a set of server IDs 400 of any servers
found and a null value if none are found. If a list of servers is
returned, the server forwards the request to one of the listed
servers (block 520). In one embodiment, the servers on the list may
be selected for forwarding in a round robin fashion. Once the
request is forwarded, the response from the selected server is
received (block 521) and then returned to the requesting client
(block 523). If no Available server having a current server
software version 406 matching the client software version 202 is
found (block 518), the process initiates a download of a new client
software version (block 522).
[0084] The servers 100 may be processing hundreds of requests 204
at a time and many of them would require an answer to the query of
block 518. Repeating the same query unlimited number of times would
overwhelm the resources. To prevent this the upgrade decision
component 214 may use a well-known mechanism called a rate limiter.
In one embodiment, there is a separate rate limiter for each value
V in the query. The limit is set for N number of queries per second
and the most recent result of each query may be cached on the
server. When the rate limiter allows a query to the repository 212,
the query is executed and a fresh result is cached. When the rate
limiter does not allow the query to the repository 212 to run, the
server uses the cached result. The value of N (rate per second) may
be tuned to achieve a balance between freshness of data and the
resource costs of queries. For example, N may be set to 1 per
second. Based on the above, it can be assumed that the server
always has an answer to the query "find Available servers which are
running version V", where the result may be returned either
directly from the repository 212 or from the cached result.
[0085] During this process, the server has decided not to serve the
request and instead forward the request to another peer server in
the cluster. This happens when a) request 204 contains the version
cookie 210, and b) the client software version 202 and current
server software version 406 differ, and c) the client software
version 202 does NOT match the server's previous server software
version 404, and d) the repository query finds a peer server with
an "Available/Alive" server status running a current server
software version 406 matching the client software version 202. This
logic steers upgraded clients towards servers running the new
server software version 220B, instead of bouncing clients between
"old" servers and "new" servers.
[0086] If the client software version 202 does match the previous
server software version 404 in the repository 212 (block 516), then
the server sends the client/user system 12 a
Client-Out-Of-Sync-Exception (COOSE) response to initiate a
download of a new client software version (block 522), In one
embodiment, the COOSE response includes the new client software
version 202, e.g. by including a link to a site where the user of
the user system 12 can invoke the download. In an alternative
embodiment, the COOSE response may include a client software setup
executable that the user may execute.
[0087] This case addresses requests sent by clients running an old
client software version when they are dispatched to an upgraded
server and the server initiates the client's upgrade.
Alternatively, if a client has already experienced a COOS during a
current release and after that is dispatched to a server with the
old version, the client's request would be forwarded to a server
with the new version in blocks 518 and 520. In all other cases the
request is served locally and may result in a desired COOS (block
522). In particular, when a server receives request with this
server's previous version, the server "knows" that this version is
old and instead of forwarding initiates client upgrade via COOS.
This scenario is the reason for maintaining the previous software
version 404 and the current software version 406 pair in the
repository 212.
[0088] The server upgrade decision component 214 in conjunction
with the repository 212 guarantees one and only one COOSE response
per client per software upgrade. The COOSE response is sent when
all of the following conditions are true: a) the request 204
contains the version cookie 210, and b) the client software version
202 and current server software version 406 differ, and c) the
client software version 202 matches the server's previous server
software version 40.
[0089] The server may periodically determine if a shutdown command
has been received (block 524). If not, the server continues to
receive requests 204 (block 510). If a shutdown command has been
received, then the server updates its' server status 408 in the
repository 212 to "Shutting Down," and then to "Offline" just prior
to completion of the shutdown process (block 526).
EXAMPLE CLIENT--SERVER SCENARIOS
[0090] Scenarios below show possible outcomes of the logic of the
server upgrade decision component 214. The examples assume that the
server cluster is being upgraded from server software version `V2`
to software version `V3`. All app servers are running V2 when the
upgrade to software version V3 starts. For the purposes of each
example, an app server can belong to one of two groups, G1 or G2,
according to the software version the server is currently running.
A server is in G1 if it has been upgraded and is running the new
software version V3. A server is in G2 if it has not been upgraded
yet and is running the old software version V2.
[0091] Scenario 1. G1 server has been upgraded (currently on
version V3): The cached values from the status repository 212 for
the previous software version 404 is V2 and for the current
software version is V3. The handling of the client requests depends
on the value of the client version cookie (Cv). For example, a
value of Cv0 or Cv1 indicates stale clients that have not connected
since an earlier server release (V0 or V1). Based on the value of
the client version cookie (Cv) outcomes are as follows: [0092]
Cv0--check table for live V0 servers, none will be found, thus
return COOSE to client to upgrade to V3. [0093] Cv1--check table
for live V1 servers, none will be found, thus return COOSE to
client to upgrade to V3. [0094] Cv2--V2 is the old version for this
server, thus return COOSE to client to upgrade to V3, consistent
with the upgrade from V2 to V3. [0095] Cv3--the versions match,
process locally.
[0096] Scenario 2. G2 server not yet upgraded (currently on version
V2): The cached values from the repository 212 for the previous
software version 404 is V1 and for the current software version is
V2. The handling of the client requests depends on the value of the
client version cookie (Cv). For example, a value of Cv0 or Cv1
indicates stale clients that have not connected since an earlier
release (V0 or V1). Based on the value of the client version cookie
(Cv) outcomes are as follows: [0097] If Cv0--check table for live
V0 servers, none will be found, thus, return COOSE to client to
upgrade to V2. [0098] Cv1--V1 is the old version for this server
thus, return COOSE to client to upgrade to V2. [0099] Cv2--versions
match, process locally. [0100] Cv3--check table for live V3
servers, when such a server is found, forward to a V3 server (it
would be a live G1 server)
[0101] Scenario 3. A G-1 server has been rolled back: this scenario
happens if V3 is determined to be not viable after upgrade of G1
servers (G2 servers remain on V2): The value for the previous
software version 404 is V3 and for the current software version is
V2. The handling of the client requests depends on the value of the
client version cookie (Cv). For example, a value of Cv0 or Cv1
indicates stale clients that have not connected since an earlier
release (V0 or V1). Based on the value of the client version cookie
(Cv) outcomes are as follows: [0102] Cv0--check table for live V0
servers, none will be found return COOSE to client to upgrade to
V2. [0103] Cv1--check table for live V1 servers, none will be
found, return COOSE to client to upgrade to V2. [0104]
Cv2--versions match, process locally. [0105] Cv3--V3 is the old
version for this server, return COOSE to client to "upgrade" (i.e.,
rollback) to V2.
[0106] Scenario 4. Full rollback after completed upgrade (all
servers have been upgraded to V3 and now are being rolled back to
V2). This scenario is identical to a normal upgrade. When a server
starts up on V2, its values for the previous and current software
versions 404 and 406 shift from "V2" and "V3", respectively, to
"V3" and "V2". After that the logic of scenario 1 is applied.
[0107] Methods and systems for maintaining client version affinity
during a server cluster upgrade have been disclosed. Client version
affinity is maintained through the use of the server upgrade
decision component 214 run by app servers 100 in the server cluster
200; the server version and status repository 212; and the version
cookie 210 sent in requests from clients to the server cluster 200.
In summary, the server upgrade decision component 214 includes
logic to decide whether to proxy (forward) a client request based
on its software version and the client software version indicated
in the version cookie in the client request. If a decision is made
to proxy the request, the server upgrade decision component 214
selects a server from a list of available servers with a software
version matching the client's by querying the repository 212 to
find a server with the matching software version. In one
embodiment, the server upgrade decision component 214 may insert
the ID of the selected server into the request and pass the request
to a common forwarding mechanism such that the selected server
services the client request.
[0108] As a result of these interactions, the rolling upgrade of
the server cluster can be performed such that clients will execute
only one software upgrade by downloading a new client-side software
version only once. Thereafter, the clients are guaranteed to have
requests handled by one of the servers executing the matching new
software version without ever having to downgrade.
* * * * *